Bicycle accidents from the neurosurgical point of view

Overview

In neurosurgery, bicycle injuries unequivocally predominate among those in sports. In a bicycleaccident there occurs most frequently an injury of the head, frequent are also injuries to thevertebral column and spinal chord. The authors present a ten-year series of 140 injuries treatedat the Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital in Plzeň, sustained in bicycle accidents.Bicycle injuries occurred most frequently in the age group of 11-20 years. In 39 % of cases therehas been found alcohol in the blood. The most frequent head injury was brain concussion,frontobasal injury and epidural hematoma. Injuries to the spine were mostly localized in theneck and thorax. Ten percent of hospitalized have died. In most cases the cause of death wasbrain concussion with acute subdural hematoma. In 61% of cases the patients were treatedsurgically. The most frequent intervention was decompressive craniotomy and plastic surgeryof the anterior cranial depression. In spinal injuries therewasmostly carried out decompressionof nerve structures with subsequent fixation of the spinal fracture. Lethal injuries of bicyclistswere mostly caused by encounter with an automobile. The injures almost exclusively died dueto injury of the head. From the point of view of number of accidents bicycle paths are moredangerous than roads. The use of bicycle helmets has an irreplaceable role in the prevention ofcraniocerebral injuries.

Key words:
bicycle accident - neurosurgery - craniocerebral injury - bicycle helmet - bicycle path.